Clean Drinking Water Project in Andong Village Slum

Info

Status:

The Clean Drinking Water Project in Andong Village was started in August of 2010 and is in the building phase right now.

Location:

Approximately 5 miles from the Phnom Penh Airport on the outskirts of town one can find the largest slum in Cambodia: Andong Village. In June of 2006 most of the 9000 people who now live in Andong Village were violently driven from their former homes in Sambok Chap near the Bassac River. Their homes were reduced to rubble by large equipment by order of the government and private investors.

Project Description:

Every year the Andong Village Slum floods during the rainy season. The rainwater accumulates; and in combination with human waste it creates a perfect breeding ground for the mosquito that carries the dengue virus. Every year hundreds of children die because of dengue fever. Chibodia e.V. decided to partner together with the local NGO named "Organization of the Development for the People of Cambodia" in order to improve the living conditions of the Andong Village People. Under the administration of the director Abraham, the organization laid sewer pipes to divert the water of the slum. In the meantime an already existing water reservoir has been enlarged by Chibodia e.V, furthermore Chibodia is planning on building a water purification facility is in the planning phase

Goals:

The long term goals of Chibodia are to convert Andong Village into a clean and habitable village. After the completion of the clean drinking water facility, it will be placed into the hands of the Andong village residents. In order to make a smooth transition, Chibodia will select and train local staff to perform specific tasks in order to run the facility. Chibodia’s vision is to enable the people to sustainably provide their own supply of clean drinking water.

Andong Village Slum

Clean Drinking Water Project in Andong Village Slum

Clean Drinking Water Project in Andong Village Slum:

There are about 9000 People that live in Andong Village Slum. That is approximately 1500 families. The majority of the inhabitants, previously lived on a very valuable piece of land in the middle of Phnom Penh next to the Bassac river called Sambak Chap, which literally means the birds nest. In 2006 they were violently driven from their homes in this area. So far a mere 500 families have received supplementary land titles for the worthless land that they live on now in Andong

The Beginning - how it happened:

The people's legal right for compensation is difficult:

The Khmer Rouge (Cambodian communist political party that took control and killed more than 1.8 million people, including almost all of the educated ones. in the latter half of the 1970’s and even lingered around in small pockets of Cambodia until 1998) destroyed all the ownership documents during the war. At the beginning of the Khmer Rouge reign (1975), all of the people had been driven out of the city. When Cambodians started coming back to the Capitol in the 1990’s a new law was created: If a person lived on a piece of property for 5 years, they were able to claim it. Unfortunately many poor people never had the means to get the official documentation; leaving them with absolutely no legal means to defend themselves against wealthy developers that had a notion to build something in the middle of Phnom Penh. This, precisely, is what happened to the people of Sambok Chap. They were loaded into trucks and dropped off one hour from their home.

A mother with children that was forced to relocate

At first many humanitarian aid organizations offered their help, but after a while many of their projects discontinued or became unusable

When the people were unloaded in Andong village, they had to sleep on the ground with nothing over their heads. Then many humanitarian aid organizations helped them with sustenance, tents and medicine, but many of these activities and small projects discontinued or became unusable. The wells that were dug are contaminated with arsenic. The toilet facilities that one aid organization built were not adequate for the amount of people and were clogged and unusable within a week. Another well known organization bought water containers and hired a contractor to deliver drinking water. However that contractor tried to save money by bringing water that was not adequate for drinking, upon which many people got sick. When this happened, the organization discontinued the project altogether, and scratched their name off the water containers. Now the people have to pay prices ten times higher than the people in Phnom Penh for water that is worse in quality and essentially not drinkable.

A half-hearted attempt to solve the water problem

Frequent Flooding is often a cause for diseases

The name Andong means "water well". Coincidentally, this village becomes flooded during the rainy season every year. The swampy conditions combined with human waste due to the absence of any functioning septic system and garbage disposal system, creates a perfect breeding ground for parasites and bacteria. This contaminated standing water is also an ideal breeding ground for the Aedes Aegypti mosquito. This mosquito can carry the dangerous dengue virus, which is cause for hundreds of child deaths in Cambodia every year.

Standing water in Andong village - a danger for all

The local NGO „Organisation of the Development for the People of Cambodia“ is helping on-site

Something has to be done for these people since they don’t have the resources to move somewhere else or help themselves. We decided to start working together with a local Organization called “Organization of the Development for the People of Cambodia” to transform Andong village into a better and more healthy place to live. Hang Abrahamsimting, (a.k.a. Abraham), the director of “Organization of the Development for the People of Cambodia” started laying sewer pipes down the main roads to divert the water of Andong Slum and brought in fill dirt to create real roads. Now all the main roads are completely dry.

Verlegte Wasserrohre in einer Seitenstraße

The Clean drinking water supply for the slum has to be secured! A partnership is essential to do this.

Unfortunately Abraham ran out of money to finish the drainage system and complete all the side streets. Edward Anderson looked at the situation and decided that Abraham needed a strong partner in order to continue his excellent work. Convinced by the results of Abraham’s work, Chibodia decided to form a partnership with him to provide clean drinking water for the poor slum villagers. Chibodia also realized in order for them to secure land on which the clean drinking water facilities could be built, they needed to find a cambodian partner they could trust.

"Abraham" and Edward Anderson in front of the Water-Resevoir

Clean Drinking Water - Prevention is Priority

People need projects like Motomedix and the ChildrensHome, when “the damage has already been done”, however, if you improve the environment in which the children are living, then you give them a better chance from the beginning. Eliminating nasty, swampy living conditions and providing clean drinking water means less sickness, more motivation to be productive, ability to learn and in general a higher quality of life. Chibodia wants to participate in eliminating the roots of problems.

"Abraham" in front of the new Water -Resevoir

A Water Purification Facility and a a large Water Reservoir - a Sustainable Project

The CDWP (clean drinking water project) incorporates a large water reservoir and a water purification facility and water pipes running throughout the village. Construction and schooling in the community about the project will take place first. After that it will be handed over for the locals to run. The water will be given away at a price that will only cover maintenance and repairs to insure its sustainability. This will be enforceable by installing water meters connected to the pipes that run into individual shacks.The price for the clean drinking water is anticipated to be considerably lower than what they pay for dirty water now.

Clean drinking water will come from this reservoir, after it passes through the water purification system that will be built.

The Running Costs will eventually be carried by the community

Of course no project of this size is cheap, but it is sustainable, because of the running costs will be carried by the community in the future. Please help Chibodia change the lives of thousands of people. Please tell others about this important project.